Police Commission Minutes 01/07/2004

The Rochester Police Commission held their regular monthly meeting on January 7, 2004. Present at this meeting was Chairman Dumont, Comm. Flanagan, Comm. Stenhouse, Chief Dubois, Capt. Allen, Lt. Moore, Lt. Taylor, Communications Supervisor Young, Attorney Grossman, Secretary Warburton, members of the public and media.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to accept the minutes of the December 2, 2003 special meeting, the December 3, 2003 regular meeting and the December 19, 2003 special meeting, consisting of a power point presentation on the budget. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

A. Building Committee Update. Chief Dubois advised that the holidays prevented the weekly committee meetings for the past two weeks. Those meetings are set to resume this Thursday. The building is still on schedule and under budget. The brick facing is up on the front and sides and they are starting on the back. The stud walls are in. Electricians and plumbers have been on site working on placement of those items. Chief Dubois concluded that any time any of the Commissioners wish to take a walk through with the Chief or Horne construction to see the layout of the building that can be set up.

B. Reverse 911. Communications Supervisor Young advised we are keeping that issue alive. We are status quo with homeland security monies and we are also checking to see if we can share costs with the Fire Department. She stated the Department and Commission are very interested in the project and we will press forward with trying to fund that with the next round of homeland security monies. Chairman Dumont stated that Chief Dellner spoke favorably about sharing those costs at the December 19^th meeting. We should also check with Public Works. Chief Dubois stated he will check with D.P.W. They do get some money but it is a lesser amount than Police and Fire, but it may lower our costs some.

A. Yearly Meeting Schedule. The yearly meeting schedule for 2004 was reviewed and accepted by the Commission. The same will be publicly posted at the Police Department and City Hall. Special meetings will be posted separately. Chief Dubois noted that one meeting not on that schedule, which will be posted is the January 17, 2004 strategic planning and goals meeting that has been set up by the Mayor.

B. Time Capsule: Lt. Moore advised that an email asking for suggestions of items to put in a time capsule to be placed in the new building. The capsule will be so marked by a plaque on the wall dedicating the police department and explaining what’s behind it. If desired, 100 years from now folks may want to open that section of the wall and see what’s there. We’ve collected some photographs of the special teams and some business cards, for example, we have a business card of former Chief Ted Blair to include. We are asking the Commission if they would like to include anything. The Commission noted that all the new stuff we are doing, such as project 54, some of the changes in technology, and things of that nature would be good items to include.

C. Volunteers for Department. Lt. Moore stated we are seeking the permission of the Commission to solicit, via a press release, volunteers to assist with clerical details. They would assist with some of the filing or data entry and it would free up others doing administrative duties.

He said, “This stack of warnings I’m holding covers three days.” Each person’s information has to be entered into the system. We would like someone to come in two or three hours a day, a couple of days a week. Chief Dubois said we have done it in the past and it worked very well for us. We have to be cautious of their access, but there are administrative duties they can help with. There are often folks in the community that want to help.

Comm. Flanagan suggested checking monthly publications or even the District Court Judges’ ref. to community service options. People may be surprised to see how much work is generated. If the information wasn’t case-sensitive that may be an option. Chief Dubois said that has been a practice long in place with respect to Juvenile Court. We use their resources for routine cruiser cleaning. We do have to be careful with that to make sure they’ve been through the court system and we would have to evaluate the offense.

Comm. Stenhouse inquired if there would be any worker’s compensation from this kind of thing. Chief Dubois stated there would be, and they would be covered by our carrier. Comm. Stenhouse offered, for the record, he holds an executive position with the City’s worker’s compensation carrier. He has no financial interest in the company, but he is an employee.

D. Chaplain Selection. Chairman Dumont stated we received three applications. Chief Dubois confirmed that three individuals expressed an interest in helping with this and their letters were forwarded to the Commission. Comm. Flanagan suggested taking this discussion up in non-public as a personnel matter. The item was deferred to non-public.

E. K-9 Funding by Rochester Housing Authority. Chief Dubois advised that we are exploring adding a K-9 component to the Department through the Housing Authority. We have been working on this matter through Officer Triano, once Housing expressed an interest. Housing is willing to donate a designated amount of funding for the program, and from a financial standpoint, they would like this K-9 assigned to the housing officer, used as part of his/her duties. However, the dog would be available for city wide use for the Department. Housing has committed to a donation of five thousand dollars ($5,000.) which would cover a good portion of the program for the first year, but it will not fund the entire program.

The Commission was advised that it looks positive that through grant funds, if we are accepted, that we could get a dog that has been reviewed by the Working Dog Foundation that is showing good potential. The estimated value of three thousand dollars (based on the cost of our current K-9, Fina), leaves the entire five thousand dollars from Housing. It takes an estimated $3,000. dollars to upgrade a cruiser. We plan to use the cruiser assigned to the Housing Officer. The remainder of the funds would be spent on small equipment items and other fees required to have the dog.

However, even accomplishing all those things with Housing’s donation, still leaves two large funding issues. They are k-9 care compensation, estimated at three thousand five hundred dollars per year and funds for call-outs, estimated at twelve hundred dollars per year.

The Housing Authority has offered nothing in regard to those items. I recommend looking further into this and see if they are able to support them, particularly the care compensation fees because that’s something we will have to carry year to year to keep the program running. The five thousand dollar donation is set to go before the Council at their next meeting. Based on past history I would expect them to be concerned about costs to the taxpayer. We are still looking at needing an additional four thousand dollars for the first year.

Comm. Flanagan offered that he has done some research on this. Having a K-9 assigned to Housing is not a new program with HUD. Other police agencies do it, such as Dover and Portsmouth may be considering it. But Portsmouth already has two dogs. Comm. Flanagan said that he is in favor of the program, if Housing can pay a bit more. Their initial donation puts us ahead of the game in the first year. I don’t think HUD should ask the taxpayers to fund any of it. I don’t want to ask Council for money that will mostly benefit Housing.

Chief Dubois said with the current offer on the table, we would have to ask for additional funding. Chairman Dumont stated that he would rather wait for the Chief to talk to Housing some more before we take any action and suggested tabling this for more information. Our power point presentation showed an increase in our budget. He said, “I agree to having the dog, it will do good things, but, I want to wait.”

F. Outside Details Payment Policy. Capt. Allen discussed this at the Chief’s request. He said what prompts this discussion is an outstanding bill of $5,000. from a vendor to whom we provided outside services to this summer. We are having difficulty getting payment due to that company’s financial hardships. We are working with legal counsel to develop a payment plan, which we hope will allow us to recover this money this fiscal year. The issue remains that however much he pays between now and the end of the fiscal year will impact our outside detail expense line. It will appear that the Department lost the money and that affects our bottom line. If we recover in the next fiscal year, we don’t benefit from it.

We want to establish some kind of policy that will require new vendors, meaning those that have no established history of payment with the City of Rochester, a deposit on the anticipated bill. We suggested fifty percent. We have had issues with other vendors in the past and believe the institution of this will prevent this in the future.

Comm. Stenhouse said it appears we are directing this primarily to special event promoters. They shouldn’t be permitted to run the event and use City services unless they are solvent. They should have to provide a hefty surety to the City. He said he would ask for more than one half of the anticipated bill. Chairman Dumont concurred. “If we don’t use it all, we can reimburse them.”

Chief Dubois stated that we will come up with a policy that will estimate as close as we can one-hundred percent of the cost. Comm. Stenhouse said he would hope we would use prudence with Rochester organizations. Chief Dubois stated this is designed for those vendors who do not have an established history with the City.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED that the Commission supports implementing a policy requiring a deposit equal to one hundred percent of the estimated bill, for outside detail vendors that have no established financial tracking history with the City. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

Capt. Allen stated the bid for the Motorcycles is for payment of a lease for two years, for two motorcycles, which allows us to continue the program. Our first year with the program was a donated lease. The funds for this will come from LLEBG grant monies.

The digital voice recorder is also a lease, but it is not grant funded. This is to replace the tape system we currently use in the communications center. The Commission inquired and it was confirmed this digital recorder will be moved to the new building.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to allow the Department to seek bids on the lease of two motorcycles, the lease of a Digital Voice Recorder, and the purchase of a Mobile Command Post. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse and PASSED unanimously.

The last item included the thermal imaging equipment bid, using Homeland Security monies. Our initial list of purchases included a crisis communications system, which was denied as an ineligible purchase. We previously talked about thermal imaging and would like to bring that back to the table and submit it in place of the crisis communication system. There are certain criteria connected to these funds. The Commission asked if this money can be carried over. Capt. Allen replied that it must be spent by May 2005.

H. Administrative Lieutenant, Temporary Job Assignment. Chief Dubois stated that we recently established the administrative Lieutenant’s position and this lays out those responsibilities, similar to our other temporary assignments. Comm. Stenhouse asked for clarification on the verbiage “temporary.” Chief Dubois replied it’s worded that way to ensure that no permanency for the position is assumed or implied. If the assignment is not working for a particular member, we have the flexibility to change the assignment.

1. SOP 32: Domestic Violence Procedure Update First Reading: Simply stated, changes to the law prompted this update. It’s merely housekeeping. The law previously allowed for a warrantless arrest within six hours. That has been extended to twelve hours.

2. SOP 98: Use of AED’s; Update First Reading: Police Standards and Training recently provided us with a model policy on the use of AED’s (Automated External Defibrillators) and we adjusted our policy to conform to that. It has been reviewed by legal counsel.

Chief Dubois refreshed the discussion, noting that we had some issues with our Animal Control procedure, which prompted a review of the policy. We suggested training police officers as back up to ACO, on an overtime basis as needed. The Commission expressed financial concerns with that. We’ve redesigned the policy to better serve the community. We will continue to use the ACO and in her absence the back up ACO, and in the absence of either of them, individuals will see a duty officer or the supervisor.

1. Patrol Bureau. Lt. Paul Moore presented this report in the absence of Capt. Donlon. He reviewed the November monthly statistics. The motorcycles were used throughout November, as was the OHRV in the Hanson Pines. The Principal was receptive and supportive of that. There had been a report of a body in the Pines and we were able to cover the ground area quickly. The report was unfounded. The K-9 has been active in demonstrations, and has participated in tracking and searches of vehicles and buildings.

The Christmas Parade went off fairly well, after being postponed to the “rain” date following a heavy snowstorm. Rotary volunteers and DPW assisted on the parade route with traffic and barricades. All did an excellent job. A critique of the parade showed that for the second year in a row, an officer was struck or almost struck at the intersection of South Main and Franklin. With this information we can better plan for future events.

2. Investigations Bureau. Lt. Jeffrey Taylor presented this report in the absence of Capt. Pease. We have had no major events during this reporting period to divert attention from current assignments. Ten felony cases were presented to the Grand Jury, all receiving true bills. Det. Phoenix continues in his capacity on his case investigations. There has been no movement on his application to the State. The Drug investigator continues to work with task force and DEA. An arrest was made of a subject on federal drug charges and members went to testify before the US District Court. Det. Cahill has begun training on the new domestic violence cameras received through the County’s grant. Fourteen new cases were taken in, and 13 cases were closed, resulting in 22 misdemeanor charges.

3. Administrative Bureau. Capt. Allen reported that the budget was completed and submitted. Where it goes from here is up to the Manager and Council with regard to cuts. We completely our annual report to the COPS office, which requires reporting on the number of funded officers. Lt. Dumas was recently transferred into the bureau. There has been a significant increase of efficiency and streamlining of operations. Transition is going well. He will be going to some training in May that will allow us to again put some focus on Accreditation. We are continuing talks with UNH on Project 54. As soon as the new cars get here, we should be able to start moving on that project. The cruisers will have to go to UNH to have some of the equipment regarding Project 54 installed. The director of the program is continuing in his talks with our software vendor. The server has been having some problems with the upgrade conflicting with software. That should all be resolved by next week.

4. Communications Bureau. Supervisor Young reported that if December remains average, we should see an overall increase in our calls for service this year over last year. We included a graph in this report that shows the number of calls logged per person. Our part-time position has been posted. We had one resignation last month and a former employee returned to the area and was rehired. Therefore, our down time was next to nothing. We are currently doing some work with the Fire Department on bomb scares. We should have something to bring to the Commission next month. Specialist Gannon will be attending the three-day SPOTS certification school in the near future. Specialist’s Daigle and Griffin will be hosting some communications training in March. If we get thirteen applicants to attend, it opens up a free slot for us. The “Cruisin’ for Coats” program was a huge, huge success. Citizens locally and in other communities participated and our gratitude is heartfelt. We received cash donations, as well as direct purchases of coats to be given to those less fortunate.

1. Command Structure. Chief Dubois addressed the Commission with regard to Lt. Gould’s key position in the Department and her upcoming training at the FBI Academy. Her absence for three months will be noticed for quality control purposes and we will have to assign someone to fill in for her. The collective bargaining agreement allows us to do this.

Chief Dubois said he would seek the Commission’s permission to have a Captain design a test and post for a promotional exam for Lieutenant in March, with the promotion effective in April when Lt. Gould leaves for training. “You will actually promote prior to needing it. This will allow us to select an individual through a process as opposed to just picking someone to fill in.

For a time, we will have one more Lieutenant, but, one less Sergeant, for a net wash. I want to leave that Sergeant position open for natural attrition. This will help us prepare for a command position that will open up in the next six to eight months. No one has given me any letters and I don’t want this discussion to give the impression that I hope people leave, but we need to prepare for this.” Chief Dubois said, “I am comfortable from a financial standpoint and confident that in the end you will have more folks to look at when that time comes. By April I will bring these folks before you for review.”

A. Appreciation and Recognition. Letters recognizing Department members this month include: Off. Wallace and Fina are thanked for public appearance at Home Depot. Off. Dugas is recognized by the Dept for good work in matching a stolen bike with a found bike and returning the same to a rightful owner

1. Forwarded information ref. to grant retention requirements to the City Manager. A lengthy discussion was held concerning this topic. Chief Dubois noted that he had forwarded a letter to the City Manager for the Council regarding grant retention requirements

Chief Dubois provided a brief history of the past few years concerning the funding for officers. He recapped the budget error in FY02 made by the Department. The Department recovered that money in the budget during the year and was prepared to bring the Department back to full staff. This was the same year a large budget error occurred on the school side of the budget. In FY03 it was a bad year for the budget and Council made drastic cuts. We were given authorization to stagger hiring to get us back to full strength by the end of the year. While we were not comfortable with that, we prepared to do that. Just as we recovered enough funds and were ready to fill those positions, a hiring freeze was put in place.

We entered into FY04, with only enough funding for 51 police positions. We were concerned about that and put the City on notice. We are still concerned. The history of the past three years says we are not meeting the retention requirements. That doesn’t bode well for us as we prepare for FY05. I’m not comfortable that in FY03 we returned $190,000 to the City and did not maintain 53 positions as required by the grants retention mandate. “We are playing with fire. The City Manager has taken exception to my belief that we have not been fully funded. I told him and I’m telling you, we are playing with fire.” This has ruffled some feathers in the Manager’s office.

Chief Dubois said there could be a wide range of penalties. I think first, they’d give us the chance to fix it. And I think we would. I don’t think anyone would continue to balk at that. The Manager’s office is confident we are not in violation and I think we are. He thinks they won’t come after us and that I’m worrying about this for nothing.

Comm. Stenhouse said that the biggest issue is the hiring freeze. “I used to administer these.” Regardless of the reason or rationale that put you over the top for the third year in a row, you probably could have hired in February or March and still turned back $140-150,000.

Comm. Stenhouse said we have an obligation to point it out in a factual manner. I do agree with the Chief that if the feds took action, they would give us the chance to fix it. It’s not directly up to the Commission, but the Council to fund.

2. Letter of Resignation. The Police Commission noted for the record the receipt of a letter from Raymond Porelle, Jr. tendering his resignation December 31, 2003, with a retroactive effective date of December 2000, for purposes of retirement. The Commission took no action on this letter, citing their minutes from August 6, 2003, wherein they formally terminated Raymond Porelle, Jr., based on an action of the NH Police Standards and Training Council who decertified Raymond Porelle, Jr. as a Police Officer effective July 29, 2003.

A. Financial Reports – December 2003. Capt. Allen advised that the bottom line, we are in the black, but we have the potential for some deficits. In November and December it was a hard month in overtime due to vacations and comp time and sick time replacements. It was above average use compared to last year. We will go over significantly if we continue to spend that way. We could anticipate a deficit of $25-30,000 in that line.

Other areas of concerns include the legal lines. There are a couple of ongoing court cases that are still being litigated. There is a potential $10,000 deficit in that line. The labor negotiation’s line could double between now and the end of the fiscal year. Those are the significant deficits. There are a couple of others that may even out with other savings in the budget.

Comm. Flanagan MOVED to enter a non-public session at 8:19 P.M. for the purpose of legal and personnel matters. SECOND by Comm. Stenhouse. The motion PASSED by roll call vote, Comm. Flanagan-yes Comm. Stenhouse-yes, Chairman Dumont -yes.